Letters from Hope
by Soko-chan
Summary: Ashe has started a new school, she hates it, the teachers are brutal and the lessons long, but will she find some comfort in her new friend Hope Esthiem, and will their letters that they send each other in classes help to restore Hope's shattered confidence? All characters apart from Ashe and a few stated others belong to me the rest are SQAURE ENIX's story is mine.
1. No place like school

Chapter one

No place like school- literally!

I walk down the corridors of my new school. Everything here is different, from the people to the rooms, I am constantly getting lost, and the teachers hate me already! And on top of that it's only halfway through my first day!

I swing the door of my locker open with brute strength, I pull it too hard and the door slams into the locker next to mine.

"Whoa!" I hear a small voice from beside me, I look around the door of my locker and come face to face with a boy, who looked just a fragile as his voice, he was wearing normal clothes I guess for this part of the state, a yellow jacket, green cargo pants, a neckerchief and his hands were inside of black gloves. He had silver hair that fell loosely over his face, just brushing his eyes that were startlingly bright green.

"Oh! Sorry!" I grimace, not a good start, almost killing my fellow locker companion.

"It's ok" the boy is no longer standing in a defensive, brace-yourself, type of way, but his eyes are still wide.

"No, it's not; I'm just not having a good day. I'm new round here, everything is different and the teachers already hate me," I tell him. He laughs; it is the cutest noise I have ever heard in my life!

"The teachers hate everyone! So what's your name? I'm Hope, Hope Esthiem" he holds out his hand and I shake it,

"My name's Ashe, Ashe Stone" I inform him,

"So what lesson have you got next? Last one before lunch, Gods save us all" he laughs again,

"Oh come-on, it can't be that bad!" I laugh in return

"Oh believe me; after you eat at the school you'll never crave food again!"

"Great" I mutter, "Oh and I have science now" I tell him,

"Oh cool me too! I'll help you find it" I already decide that I like Hope as he walks down the corridor just a little ahead of me.

We walk in though the door of the science lab, the rest of the class are seated and have apparently started the lesson.

"Mr Esthiem, kindly explain why you are so late for my lesson?" A mean looking teacher was standing at the front of the room; a detailed diagram was drawn on the whiteboard with a couple of words scrawled across it in block capitals.

"Miss, I was helping a new student to the class" he hangs his head in shame, "It won't happen again,"

"You're sure right it won't Mr Esthiem, or else you'll be kept after class."

The teacher looks at me,

"And what is your name?" she asks, her voice is sharp and cold, I don't like her at all,

"My name is Ashe Stone" I mummer,

"Speak up girl, I can't hear you," The teacher is quickly losing patience with me,

"My name is Ashe Stone!" I shout a little too loudly, the teachers looks startled,

"No need to shout Miss Stone, I am perfectly capable of hearing you!" she snaps, the class is filled with stifled sniggers, she shoots the class a look that could kill and the room falls silent again.

"My name is Miss Lenchen" she tells me and then turns to the whiteboard and starts to talk about scientific things, I'm not listening,

"Here, sit with me, she doesn't look at the back of the class." Hope walks to the very back of the room and sits down on a stool that is positioned behind a wooden lab table.

"We won't be able to talk without getting caught, she has eyes like a hawk" Hope laughed silently, he opens his bag and takes out his work stationary and books and places them on the table, I follow his lead.

He also takes out a notebook that has several doodles scrawled across the front; most of them consist of Chocobos.

He tears a page out as quietly as he can, and we both wince as it makes a particularly loud ripping noise, Miss Lenchen doesn't seem to notice though.

Hope picks up his pen and starts to write, I look across and admire his handwriting it is loopy and rather beautiful.

_So where are you from? – H_

_New Bodhum – A_

_Really? Wow that's fancy, nothing like Palumpolum then – H_

_No, I guess not- A_

_So, we've got time to kill, fancy asking questions so we have something to talk about later? – H_

_Why not, go on, you first –A_

_Ok, um what's your favourite colour? – H_

I laugh silently at the childish question, but I guess that I kind of like the fact that he acts all innocent.

_Blue, and you? – A_

_Hey that rhymes! Oh and my fave is blue as well! – H_

_Ok, um what are your parents names? – A_

I see Hope stiffen up, uh-oh,

"Hope?" I whisper,

"sshhhh!" Miss Lenchen explodes from the front making me jump,

_My dad's name is Bartholomew and my mom's name was Nora – H_

A sudden realisation hits me, I made a bad move asking that question, I don't want to press him any further, and he'll tell me when he's ready.

The bell rings, signalling lunch time, we quickly pack our things away and exit into the corridors.

"Hope! Hope I'm so sorry" I apologise like an idiot.

"It's ok, you didn't know, but you do now, come-on lets go grab some lunch" Hope's smile returns to his face and we walk together down the busy hallways, but even though he's putting on a brave face, I know that what I wrote hurt him.


	2. Cover your ears!

Chapter two

Cover your ears- or you'll never hear again!

We heard the cafeteria before we saw it,

"What is that noise?" I shout across to Hope,

"That's where we're going, oh and a word of warning, cover your ears or you'll never hear again!" he shouts back at me.

I follow instructions and clamp my hands down over my ears, bracing ourselves Hope opened the door that lead to the cafeteria, it was like a shockwave hit us, the noise was truly deafening, the whole of the school must have been packed into the one room. I look across at Hope, he is giving me a knowing look, we must look stupid standing here with our hands up on our heads, so I lower mine down to my sides, BIG MISTAKE, the noise is so loud now that I am feeling physically sick, my head starts pounding almost as soon as I expose my ears.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Hope shouts at me, his voice sounds quiet even though he is screaming down my ear.

"YES, I THINK SO!" I scream back,

"JUST GRAB SOME FOOD AND PAY FOR IT, THEN WE CAN GO SIT ON THE LAWN!" He shouts as loudly as he can, I run over towards the fridges and pick up a boxed pack of sandwiches and a bottle of water, then I chose a fruit salad as well, I slam the food down on the counter and the cook looks at me with distaste, she scrawls how much it will cost on the back of a receipt, she is probably tired of having to scream prices at people.

I fish around in my purse for change and place some coins on the counter, she counts them out at an excruciatingly slow pace and then nods her dismissal at me, I grab my food and run out of the door, closely followed by Hope.

"How can you stand that every day?" I can talk normally now, but my ears and head are still pounding.

"I don't I bring my own" Hope raises a paper bag in my face,

"Ah, I think I will try that next time, thanks for the tip, but one thing's for sure I'm NEVER going back in there again!" we both laugh,

"You're funny" Hope giggles like a little child,

"Yeah, I guess so, I was kinda known for it at my old school" I reply, we are now both seated on a grass lawn at the front of the school, several trees are planted in rows nearby, and a manmade stream runs nearby.

Several other students are seated in various places, mainly in small groups of four or five.

"I see they made an escape too" I laugh pointing at a nearby group of boys and girls.

"Yeah, we're the only ones who aren't stupid enough to brave the horrors of the cafeteria, and don't be fooled by the pretty box, that sandwich will be lethal" Hope points at my sandwiches, one of which is held in my hand,

"How bad can it be?" I ask, and shove the sandwich into my mouth,

"Oh gross!" I spit it out into a nearby bin, "I'm never going to eat the food here again, I dispose the rest of my lunch into the bin.

"Have mine" Hope puts his bag onto my lap once I am seated again,

"No way, you've eaten nothing," I protest and give him his lunch back,

"It's ok, I'm used to it, really, you need it more than I do" Hope passes it back to me, is he crazy? No wonder he's stick thin, does he not eat or something?

"Hope, no way, if you insist that I eat your food you at least have to share with me" I reply and open the bag, inside are two sandwiches cut into triangles and a cookie, figures he's have something like that in there.

I pass him half of the sandwich and he takes it,

"This is good" I say between mouthfuls,

"You think so? It's the best we can manage, me and my dad, my mom used to make the best sandwiches ever!" Hope laughs as if recalling something, then he is suddenly sad again,

"But that doesn't matter, if you like these then that means my sandwich making skills are not as bad as I thought they were, my dad won't even touch them!"

I laugh at his last statement,

"Well I think that they're great!" I smile and finish my half off, Hope then reaches into the bag and pulls out the cookie, he breaks it almost exactly in half and passes me a piece,

"Thanks" I say and bit into it, "This is amazing; let me guess you made it too?"

"Yeah I did, I did some baking yesterday, though I might as well, because I had nothing else to do" he smiled at me,

After we have finished eating our lunch, we stand up together and head to our next lesson.

"Seems like we have exactly the same timetable" I say, after we both look at ours,

"Yeah, I'm glad we can sit next to each other in everything" Hope seems so happy right now,

"What? Are you telling me that in all of your lessons NO ONE sits next to you?" I am shocked, how could anyone not want to sit next to such a joyful person?

"They think I'm too different, I mean I'm the kid whose mother's dead, who spends his time drawing, and never talks to anyone, or when he does, no one wants to listen" Hope looks down at his feet,

"But that's so unfair! You're great, and I'll tell you something, I draw all the time," I tell him, and look into his eyes,

"Really?" He asks me looking hopeful,

"Yeah," I reply, "In next period I'll show you" I promise and we wrap little fingers, even though I only met this boy this morning, I feel as if we've known each other for years and years! It's like we were destined to be friends.


	3. A shocking dicovery

Chapter three

A shocking discovery

As we seat ourselves down at the back of History, I notice that all the other students are giving us looks like we smell like something decidedly unpleasant.

"What's up with them?" I whisper across to Hope,

"Sshh!" our History teacher, Mr Davies, shouts at us,

"Sheesh" I mutter under my breath, then I take a piece of notepaper out of my pocket, along with all of my History requirements, Mr Davies starts banging on about the History of the Four Tribes, I've heard it all before, but it still fascinates me.

Hope looks across at me and smiles, and then he scribbles something down on the paper by my hands,

_You look like you've just heard the best news of your life – H_

_Sorry the history of the tribes still fascinates me, I just love hearing about where my ancestral roots are from –A_

_Cool, so let me guess, with looks like yours and your strength, I think you're a Selkie – H_

I almost laugh out loud at this, how could I possibly be a selkie? They're far prettier and more agile than I am or will ever be.

_No, I'm a Clavat, I have some Selkie blood in me, but not enough to make me officially a Selkie –A_

_You're still part Selkie though, and by the way, I'm a Clavat too – H_

_Awesome we are so cool, I love our dancing style, the Selkie Tango doesn't appeal to me at all – A_

_Me neither, it's too sharp and spiky and my feet always seem to trip over themselves! I like the fact that the Clavat Step is folk dancing; it's easy for me to do. –H_

_Wait; hold up, you can dance? – A_

_Yeah, of course! It's part of the curriculum, take a look if you don't believe me – H_

I take out my folded timetable and open it onto the desk, Hope points at the period that is printed as our next: TRIBAL DANCING

_You are joking me right? – A_

'_fraid not, each different tribe has it's dance, so you partner up with someone from your tribe and you have to dance in front of the whole school with the other members of your tribe, -H_

_YOU ARE JOKING ME! I AM NOT DANCING IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL! – A_

_You have to, and lucky for us the tribe with the least amount of students in it here is the Clavat tribe, as most of the people in the area are Selkies – H_

I glance at Hope to see if he's messing with me, I don't see any hints in his face that he could be hiding something, I groan and rest my head on the table.


	4. Gods save us all!

Chapter four

Gods save us all

Turns out that Hope seriously wasn't joking, I fell sick to my stomach as we pile into the sports hall. The noise in here is bad, but not quite like when we were in the cafeteria. I gulp as the teachers sort us out into our tribal groups.

"Right Hope, you know where to go" A teacher gently pushes him towards a group of other students, he looks back at me sympathetically,

"And who are you?" The teacher then asks me,

"Ashe Stone" I reply,

"Ah yes, Clavat right? Then go and join your friend Hope over there" the teacher pushes me in the direction that Hope went and we reunite at last.

"Now would be a good time to pick a partner" he informs me, "Save embarrassment before the dancing starts"

"Can, Can I dance with you?" I ask Hope blushes pink; oops did I just make a mistake by asking him this?

"Well I was kinda hoping you'd say that" Hope laughs, "our tribe has drawn the short straw so we're dancing first. Oh great joy" Hope rolls his eyes as the rest of the hall falls silent.

As I place my right palm against his left the music starts, we start to move in time to the music, a grin spreads across his face, I look down at his feet, he is a really good dancer, we take our palms away and jump in the air, in perfect sync, then we land and swap over sides and palms. For a while I never want the dance to end, though all good things must come to an end.

A round of applause is heard as the dance ends, I curtsey to Hope whilst he bows to me, the teachers are clapping the loudest.

"I'm glad that's over with" Hope laughs as we embarrassedly retreat the stands where the Selkies take position on the dance floor.

I take out a new piece of notepaper and start to write.

_I still need to show you my drawings don't I? – A_

_Yeah- H_

_OK here they are- A_

I take my sketch book out of my bag and pass it to Hope, he takes the book from my hands and opens it, and his eyes light up at the pencilled illustrations inside,

"Wow" he breathes,

"They're really not that great" I whisper back, he looks at me as if to say 'are you kidding me?' I blush and look down.

"Hey what's this one?" I look across and panic, damn! I had forgotten about that one! I see Hope looking down at my most detailed and cared for sketch ever, it's one of him,

"And when did you draw this?" He whispers,

"At lunch today" I say and try and pry the book away from him,

"No don't! It's good" he resists and clutches the book closer to his body, I sign knowing I'm fighting a losing battle, but if he likes it that's good right?


	5. Going home

Chapter five

Going home

"Whew, I'm glad that it's all over!" I laugh as both Hope and I exit the school building at the end of the day.

"Time to prepare yourself for tomorrow then!" he laughs with me,

"Please don't bring it up" we walk down the stone steps leading down from the building,

"So who's taking you home Hope?" I ask him,

"My dad should come soon" though he doesn't look positive about what he's saying, "and you?"

I sure wasn't expecting that question,

"Well, I um" I think about what to say next, should I tell him the truth? Should I tell him that both of my parents are dead, and I live at wherever I can? I quickly think of a lie that sounds realistic,

"I walk home every night" phew that sounds believable, doesn't it?

"Well I'll walk you home then, my dad usually comes a little later anyway" Hope starts to walk down the pavement after me, oh no! Don't follow! I panic.

"No, I um, I live far, very far away, you're dad will wonder where you are" I pray that this will force Hope to stay.

"Well then I'm definitely walking you home, it's not safe around these areas" he follows me even more persistently, I sigh, maybe after a while he will think I really do live a long way away and turn around.

He doesn't.

After what is probably hours he speaks up.

"Where exactly _do _you live? It seems to take forever to get there, maybe I should call a taxi" he reaches in his pocket and pulls out a mobile.

"No! I'm fine, you can go now" I try and push him away, he looks like a realisation has hit him, I can see it in his eyes,

"Ashe..." he starts off, oh Gods no! Don't let him ask me anything! There's no escape now, I bite my lip and face whatever is to come.

"Ashe.. do you have anywhere to go tonight? We've walked around this block five times now, and you always seem uncertain of where to turn off, it's like you don't know where to go" Hope looks directly into my eyes, is this kid telepathic or something?

"Of course I have somewhere to go!" I snap a little too harshly, then I turn and run down the street, I hear Hope running behind me, he's fast! And he soon catches up.

"Ashe! Be honest with me! I thought I was your friend" Hope looks like he's going to cry any minute, I can't do this, I'm not strong enough,

"No, I don't have anywhere to go! My mum and dad were killed in an attack from the military, I escaped, I have no other family, no one! I wrote up my own school submission form and forged my mum's old signature, they fell for it... and..." I can't say anymore, enough has been said, I start crying, the tears falling down my face, I try and stand but my knees are weak and I crash onto the pavement, Hope lands beside me, his knees clicking as he bends,

"Ashe, come with me, you can stay with me, I don't know what my dad will say, but he can't turn you out" Hope helps me off the ground and he smiles at me half-heartedly.

"It'll be ok"

Though I'm sure that we both know that my current situation is anything _but _ok.


	6. Dad i'm home

Chapter six

Dad I'm home

Hope and I walk down a nice looking street, all the houses look expensive and I can't believe that this kid walking in front of me could live in such a nice area.

"Here we are," Hope tells me, we walk down a gravel driveway to a small white house, it's not as grand looking as the rest, but it's nicer than any place I've stayed in before.

"Dad I'm home!" Hope shouts as he opens the door, "leave your shoes" he whispers to me, pulling his boots off his feet and leaving them side by side in the door way. I tug my own boots off and place them next to his.

"I'm in the kitchen, dinner's almost ready!" I hear a kind sounding male voice coming from somewhere else in the house.

"It's now or never" Hope breathes, he bravely walks across the hallway and turns off at a room where there's light spilling out of the door,

"Dad?" Hope says, though it's more of a question,

"If you want to know what it is it's veggie burgers, yum!" the voice came again,

"No Dad it's not that" Hope pushes the door open, revealing us, I see a kind looking middle-aged man standing behind a fancy kitchen counter, flipping burgers in a saucepan.

"Who is that?" the man's face becomes riddled with worry.

"She has nowhere to go Dad... so I told her she could stay here, she can stay can't she?" Hope was worried, I could tell by his voice.

"I- I don't know, I'm going to have to think about it" the man replied,

"Mr Esthiem" I start, I have no idea what to say, what to tell him,

"What is your name and how do you know my son?" the man asks me, but not in an unkind way.

"I'm his friend,"

"Best friend" Hope chips in, I see his father's facial expression soften a little,

"And my name is Ashe Stone" I finish

"Hope, I can trust you can't I?" his father asks,

"Of course Dad, anything" Hope nods his head sincerely,

"You have a spare bed in your room, she can stay there until the morning, then I'll have to decide the next step from there" his father tells us both.

"Thank you Dad!" Hope seems relieved and a huge weight has just fallen from my shoulders.

Hope grabs my arms and we run upstairs together.

"Well, it's not much, but it's my bedroom" Hope opens the door to his room, I gasp, it's beautiful, the colour schemes are blues and greens, and the walls are covered in paintings of Cocoon.

"Wow Hope, I mean, wow!" I spin around and laugh

"Welcome home" Hope give me a massive hug, I am moved by it and hug him back,

"Thank you" I bury my head in his shoulder, I finally have somewhere to call my home.


End file.
